Light thumbs up. It‘s hard to go wrong with the friends of Three Pines, but this one was just okay.

Reread with IRL club and it was a raucous good time, lots of fodder for laughter and discussion.

Once again struck by the highly relatable themes. Humanity hasn‘t fundamentally changed.

😢😭

Oh the the sick & sad irony re: a raiding officer had 1984 in his hands and didn‘t know what it was about, had to ask the shop owner.

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5294328/israel-raid-bookstore-east-jerusale...

Okay, the “torturous” initiation rites of the Bogomil sect wherein they are subjected to pagan plays made me laugh. (All things earthly and pleasurable are sinful.) Such as those featuring Lady Baubo, who is the ancient goddess of mirth & obscenity & laughter.

Oh the evils of hedonism! 😂 Google to get the full pic!

IRL bookclub pick. One member bailed and “hated” it, the rest of us agreed Oyamda effectively achieved her purpose in describing the inane dehumanizing impact of the corporate world.

Don‘t expect high action or deep character development. That is not the point. 😉

“Trying would be their life‘s work.”

So very good! 💔How can we recover from our mistakes, even those most ordinary of human failings? We all think we‘re special in or miseries and joys. But are we?

This one falls under the feel good balm category.

Robert Seethaler is an auto buy author for me. 👏🏾 If you enjoy understated, spare, quiet, reflective & all those similarly lovely adjectives, you‘ll appreciate his writing style too.

I‘ll be living with Olga for awhile. (10 weeks as a read along) Slow going because I have to make a note or look up a word every other minute.

What a ride! Halfway thru Book 2 and I‘m a bit nonplussed by the mysticism of Kabbalists. “The air is full of eyes…” 👀👀👀👀

I wanted to like this, but it is coming off as pretentious. Maybe it‘s my mood. Just not invested and I‘m 61% in.

Continued on with the series. It‘s entertaining enough to listen to during workouts. I won‘t likely remember it. 😏

Beverages & books are an escape from reality.

Loved the first book of Jacob! It couldn‘t be denser with ideas & threads. I am delighted & tickled with the humor. 😄

5⭐️ Wagamese so effectively captures the heart wrenching destructive trauma of the Indian boarding school policy.

I knew I was going to like this because I enjoyed Medicine Walk. Deft writer! Lyrical and sensitive despite the subject matter.

#OhCanada
@Jess861

Feeling Asher‘s misanthropy today.

New IRL bookclub is a fabulous group of smart & funny people. I am really looking forward to future book dissections, I mean discussions.

I “enjoyed” Conrad‘s novella for what it is/was in its time. The literary criticism from various writers included added food for thought. I argued with them via pencil. 😆

This is a pick for the importance of the subject matter - the crisis of crimes against indigenous women. #MMIW

There were aspects of the writing I found distracting, but that is a quibble that pales against the importance of raising awareness.

What a fantastic title page!

Fiction is the great lie telling the truth…

Spot on articulation for why writing & reading “fiction” is important. 👌🏾 I could listen to Verghese all day - so insightful & relaxing. Bet his medical students like him.

https://youtu.be/-zBo7Fl-iL8?si=NnX_laxXa1ScN5zb

What splendid evocative writing! The excerpt pictured is from page 1. I‘m only on chapter 6 and I am going to savor each and every one.

#OhCanada
@Jess861

This is a fun a race against the clock to solve a murder & save an innocent man from a public hanging! 🏇

Aside from some diversions about cricket, I really enjoyed the writing. Definitely anti-death penalty, Cornwell doesn‘t spare any of what is repulsive about it.

I notice Cornwell is (was?) prolific, but alas seems most of his books are war centered?

I think I‘ll be occupied in the kitchen this year. 😊👏🏾 Doesn‘t take much to make me happy.

Is there such a thing as exquisite pain? If so it‘s here in Toni‘s writing. The exchange between Nel & Sula after their estrangement wherein they compare their life choices & consequences is a knife to the heart. So poignant because both women are telling their truths, though so very different.💔

I have to spend more time thinking about this one. Sula is difficult to like for her narcissism & nihilism. I can though admire her self actualization.

Good writing, but relentlessly depressing. I can‘t finish now, but perhaps I‘ll come back some other time. It might also be the narrator‘s voice which is suitable to the tone of the novel. 🫤 Just not the right book at the moment.

Agree with @Ruthiella this one is a soft pick mainly because I didn‘t find the 16 year old Addie‘s novel entertaining. It would have been better had only excerpts been included. But, the comedy at the end had me laughing and guffawing out loud. High melodrama! #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

There is a twist in this novel that is slowly revealed to the reader, which was an element I enjoyed. Also, lots of food & nature descriptions. ❤️ Not sure about the ending; seemed a bit contrived and convenient.

So relatable! How many times have I asked where the day went because there is no accounting for it?

😆 I needn‘t have felt bad about bailing on this one. It was essentially a flop for the bookclub. Only two actually managed to read/listen to the whole thing.

Amazing this is a debut novel! It feels like a bit of a mashup between a traditional American Western & an organized crime novel, but set in contemporary rural NW England. As odd as it sounds, it works. Gritty and sometimes gruesome, yet there is also the natural beauty of the fells.

Thanks @Cathythoughts for your post. Had it not been for you I would have bypassed it because of the cover. 😜

I puzzled over Pamela walking in on the lawyer searching the “davenport” for valuable assets. 🤔 Why would he and how long could it take to poke through the cushions of a couch? 😆

In America “davenport” is an old fashioned word for couch/sofa, which my grandmother used and is the only reason I am familiar with it. Apparently in the UK a davenport is a writing desk. I would have recognized it as a “secretary.”

#FurrowedMiddleBrowClub

Ooofta - this little piece is slow going for all that‘s packed into it. I can only read a few pages at a time to absorb it.

This caused me to snort out loud! 😆 #Furrowedmiddlebrowclub

#Mtcookbook And that‘s a wrap! 66 recipes made from 43 cookbooks from my shelves in 2024. 😋

Last night was an adapted fried rice; I used the cashew chicken recipe from the tagged book and everyone loved it, excepting the vegetables according to my daughter. 😏

This was a fun challenge and thank you to all who indulged my posts!

I could not put this down! Whipple has an exceptional ability to convey the emotional lives of her characters with such realism. Not for a minute did any of it feel like fiction; it was like being a fly on the wall. That is until the end. I suspect had this novel been written today the end would be quite different. Still, a 5⭐️read!

This novel has the best description of a cozy happy family Xmas I‘ve ever encountered. Just picture perfect.

East of Eden was such a fun reading experience for all of the Easter eggs!

A Month in the Country was just as exquisite on reread, which we all know can be a risky endeavor.

Love this invitation! We all do this anyway, but by being actively conscious of it we can better appreciate the gifts we‘ve been given and those we give. We can even level up.

Kimmerer‘s writing is always lovely and this is no exception.

Excellent ecological & economic ethos to focus on in the new year: restraint, respect, reciprocity. We can each contribute in our own ways.

As you can see, plenty of insightful observations & wisdom offered here on behalf of Arendt. Highly relevant today, though I‘d be hard pressed to believe there would ever be a time when it isn‘t.

Freedom is in plurality. However, it requires relinquishing a degree of sovereignty. (Cliche freedom isn‘t free.)

I had to laugh when Stonebridge points out shouting “stupid” into the void of social media is not effective resistance. 😆

I caught a cold 😒, but I‘m thankful it was after the festivities. It‘s nap/reading time and this classic has been on my TBR forever. The impetus is a new bookclub starting up in January.

I love all the end of the year lists! Here is one from Minnesota Public Radio. 💙

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/12/27/the-41-best-books-mpr-news-staff-read-i...

Powell captures the frustrations, disappointments, and heartbreaks of the Brontë sisters well. Bleak, like Emily‘s moors.

Their poor father outliving his entire family. These types of accounts always make me better appreciate modern medicine, even with its flaws.

Speaking of bleak, is dreary wet March the new December? If so, I‘m not a fan.

The 26th of December is always a good day. Peace, quiet, no expectations, and good leftovers. 😄

After a much needed nap, it‘s time to start cooking & baking again. 😄

This book is likely to be a new favorite. First recipe is a tag for #Mtcookbook.

Happy Festivities to one and all!

IRL Bookclub - I have appropriately themed flags. 🧙🏾‍♀️

I‘ve been having great difficulty getting into this one. 🫤 I will feel like a heel if I bail so I‘m hoping it picks up.

It‘s lasagne time of year again! 😋

Unfortunately Jeff‘s scandal gives me pause every time I open the book. 😒

A Christmas novel? Not the kind you might expect or want, in fact it‘s the opposite. There are no warm & fuzzies here.
Instead it‘s a barely functioning gritty & damaged young woman struggling to find the courage to reinvent herself.

Now I feel a need to shower and clean my house. 😬

Fun little comedy, even if predicable. 🧔 Beards are a theme. 😉

Quick listen on YouTube with an excellent narrator. I just discovered his channel - “Bitesized Audio Classics.” https://youtu.be/gRRXJdoEfFo?si=vNJVK703Kzur6V0l

This edition is not going to work! It‘s an oversized book in terms of it‘s dimensions (wider & longer) and the print is minuscule. Each page is like a blur of ant prints. I‘m going to have to get the first of the tetraology as a stand-alone book.

@Ruthiella I may have to try the audio on YouTube. 😉 I just found Bill Nighy reading it! 👏🏾

I learned about logotherapy, which makes intuitive sense. Humorous anecdote about the client who had been in psychoanalysis for 5 years being told the root of his problem was the relationship with his father when in fact he just needed/wanted a change in career! 😆 One or two sessions with Frankl and done! I wish we could all have a Frankl in our lives.

A morality tale Rossner tells in riveting fashion! Loved it even more after watching this documentary. Highly recommend as a follow-up. https://youtu.be/IRN91TeXAYE?si=L5r0urNjlonFkqvH

⚠️Spoiler Warning!!! Do NOT watch the film unless you want to know the story before reading the book.

#PersephoneClub

This will be my next bedtime chunkster. I don‘t recommend this edition - the print is tiny, despite the beautiful cover! 😵‍💫